“Let go of me!” Mason shouted as he struggled furiously.
Yet, how could he surpass the almighty Master of Blacksmith in physical strength? Lin Li had been accumulating his strength over the years by hammering on metals. Not to mention a Mage like Mason, a Warrior would not have escaped the grasp of Lin Li.
“Forget it, Brother Mason. You’d…” Just when Lin Li wanted to persuade him, his thoughts were interrupted by a group of men in black robes entering the guild hall in the distance. There were about 10 people in that group, and their leader, a dignified man in his mid-40s, had a magic staff in his hand.
This man looks familiar… thought Lin Li, though he could not remember where he first met him.
While he was still pondering over his identity, the leader had already reached the middle of the guild hall.
“Please be silent!” This command, despite being spoken in a voice not as resounding, was clearly heard by each and every individual present.
Immediately, the bustling guild hall became quiet.
“The trial starts now,” announced the middle-aged man. Without further ado, he got to his point and instructed, “You are required to take one of the eight number plates from my hands. Take note of its number and go look for your mentor.”
Right after ending his speech, a group of young mages crowded around him, and the quiet guild hall grew noisy again.
“I’ll go,” volunteered Mason as he dashed into the crowd. Yet, after a while, he was seen coming out of it with a very disappointed expression on his face. “I was too slow. This was the last number plate left…” said Mason in a dejected tone.
What’s the great deal about being last to collect the plate when the order doesn’t matter? thought Lin Li as he remained quiet.
“Felic, we’ve gotten a ‘six’!”
Before Mason’s voice faded, Lin Li saw a short and skinny old man walking towards them. He had a goat-like beard, and like the other mentors, he was dressed in a black robe.
“Those two sly fellas and that… and that idiot! Come here now!” that old man shouted from afar.
“Who’s the idiot that he was referring to?” Mason asked foolishly in a low voice, but was ignored by his two teammates.
Lin Li and Orrin proceeded towards the old man diligently, leaving behind Mason, who was still standing there in a daze.
“Idiot! Are you not coming?” the old man shouted again. This time, Mason understood whom he was referring to…
“Let me first introduce myself. My name is Macklin, but you’d better address me as Mr. Macklin,” ordered the old man in an unfriendly tone as he glared at them, hoping to make himself appear fiercer than he was. Yet, it was the goat-like beard that gave him away, revealing him to be a pretentious man instead. He continued, “I had made a bet with the others on this round of trial that my team would definitely enter the placement round. Regardless of your abilities, if you make me lose the bet, you are going to get it from me the hard way. Do you understand?”
“Yes…” mumbled the trio together as they gulped down their saliva anxiously. Their hearts had also started to curse this damn mentor…
“Louder!”
“Yes, we do!!”
“Very good. But before I win the bet, I need to verify your abilities,” said Macklin as he glanced at Lin Li and Orrin. Then, he emphasized in a serious tone, “Remember, I meant real abilities!”
“…”
The underlying meaning of Mr. Macklin’s instruction would have been clear to any dimwitted fella. Lin Li just could not understand how the old man could see right through him. The Mana Concealment Potion was so advanced that even Gerian would not be able to decipher the real level he was at!
“Is this very strange to you?” the old man asked, grinning, as though he knew how to read minds. Without waiting for Lin Li to respond, he continued, “When I was your age, this was what I did as well.”
“…”
“Alright, shoot if y’all have any questions. If not, let me bring you to an interesting place now.”
…
That was the Nightmare Mountains—the most dangerous place in Alanna.
The four of them stood in front of a pitch-black cave. Macklin pointed at the cave casually and told the trio, “There lives a little kitten inside this cave. I’ll lure it out, and you are to battle it single-handedly. I would like to see who can kill it.”
“I shall go first!” Mason volunteered enthusiastically after observing how relaxed Macklin was when he made his speech, thinking that it would be an easy task.
“Sure, you go first, then,” said the old man with an amused laughter that caused his goat-like beard to twitch. Before Mason realized it, he had already gone far into the cave…
Soon after, a series of groans could be heard by the three men, and that was followed by two shadows emerging from the cave at top speed one after another like two arrows, shooting out from it.
“Mason, it’s your turn now!” Macklin left the cave with the Levitating Spell, which allowed him to swerve off in the air, leaving the dumbfounded Mason by himself…
Looking at the pair of blood-red eyes before him, Mason’s heart dropped.
W-W-Was this the “little kitten” the old dude was referring to??? Indeed! What a kitty! Damn him…
As a level-nine mage, never would Mason have dreamt of confronting a level-12 magical beast alone. What was more, this beast was the most powerful of the other level-12 beasts, and the killer of mages—the infamous Fantama Panthera!
Mason was facing the Fantama Panthera by himself.
“GRRR!” The beast growled as it pounced towards Mason like a threatening black stroke of lightning.
“Help! You’ve got the wrong man!” Mason cried helplessly. How would the Fantama Panthera entertain his pleas?
To them, all humans were prey. Who cared if they were plump or lean?
The Fantama Panthera instantaneously bridged the distance of at least 10 meters between them, and appeared in front of Mason.
Mason employed the Delaying Spell onto the beast and the Hastening Spell onto himself before scurrying off.
That old man had to be joking when he made a level-nine mage deal with a Fantama Panthera!
Lin Li saw the dire situation Mason got himself into.
Alternating between the Delaying Spell and the Hastening Spell would only let him stand a chance of defeating a beast of a level lower than 10. For the level-12 Fantama Panthera, however, doing so would only mean sending himself to death.
Mason had only run a total of 10 steps before meeting the red eyes of the Fantama Panthera again.
What followed was an unpleasant and terrifying roar from behind.
Before Mason knew it, he felt as though he was walking on mud. The lower half of his legs had already sunk into the ground too.
Apart from having the speed of lightning as well as a set of sharp and immensely poisonous claws, the Fantama Panthera was also extremely proficient in Dark Magic.
The Decaying Spell it unleashed landed Mason in boiling hot soup.
In such a frenzied state, there was no time for Mason to think anymore. Without hesitation, Mason started to recite a spell in a hurried manner.
He could swear that that was the first time he’d ever had such a thrilling encounter.
A Fantama Panthera sprang towards him like a bolt of lightning while he recited the spell in the middle of the sludge.
In that instance, Mason was so terrified that he nearly died from a heart attack.
Just when the blue toxic claws were about to come into contact with his chest, Mason finished reciting the last line of his spell…
“Pom!”
A deafening sound reverberated as the spell broke out. As a level-nine mage, it was no doubt that Mason’s Power of Repulse erupted with great force, and the leopard got repelled at least 10 meters away from him. After pulling his legs out of the mud, he fled at once.
The three bystanders could only shake their heads in disapproval of Mason’s shameless escape. That fella was such a weakling! The only method he employed throughout the confrontation was to escape. How could one even outrun the lightning speed of a Fantama Panthera?
The excruciating pain inflicted by the Power of Repulse agitated the Fantama Panthera.
“ROAR…!!”
This growl was shrill and penetrating. Almost everyone could sense a strange force of magical waves rising from their surroundings.
Amidst the ear-piercing snarl, Mason felt an agonizing and tight pain in his feet. Before he knew it, he’d lost his balance completely, and lunged towards the ground with his face.
While he tried to look back, what made him almost swoon with trepidation was a white skeletal arm grabbing firmly onto his ankle from the soil…
I’m dead! In that instance, this was the only thought that was in Mason’s mind.
Then, he saw the coat of black rosettes prints leaping towards him stealthily…
Yet, the agony he was expecting never came.
Only a word came to him.
“IDIOT!”
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